With their lightweight, slim profile and long battery life, Ultrabooks are the perfect laptop for the business traveller and frequent flyer.
It's not just that trio of traits in their favour. Smart design, solid-state drives and the latest Intel processors all contribute to notebooks that are more robust and more powerful than the 'thin and light' models of some years back.
But how large could an Ultrabook get before it's no longer a welcome travel companion?
Most Ultrabooks have a screen size of 11 inches to 13 inches, which gives them a flying-friendly footprint.
That's small enough to easily slip in and out of your carry-on bag, and sit on almost any aircraft's tray table, but still large enough to provide a usable display and keyboard for your day-to-do chores.
Yet there's nothing to stop a manufacturer from upsizing the Ultrabook with a screen measuring 15-16 inches or even 17 inches.
A larger screen makes for a physically larger footprint, of course. This would not only allow for a larger battery, it would necessitate it – because bigger screens draw more juice than smaller ones.
But today's power-savvy processors should still ensure an extra hour or two of battery life into the bargain, even if the larger battery also makes the uber-Ultrabook heavier than its siblings.
On the plus side, a physically bigger Ultrabook also provides more room for airflow – lending itself to better cooling for more muscular processors like Intel's top-shelf Core i7, which is better suited to handling more demanding tasks than the mid-range Core i5.
There'd also be more space on the chassis itself for extra ports such as a LAN socket for hardwired networking, full-size HDMI for video output and extra USB ports for a bit more convenience on the road or back at your desk.
Apple is already rumoured to have a 15 inch version of the MacBook Air slated for release in the next few months, on top of the current 11 inch and 13 inch models.
Dell Asia-Pacific exec Jeff Morris hinted at a similar upsizing during the recent launch of the company's XPS13 Ultrabook.
"I could see Ultrabooks going (across the range), they can be smaller and cheaper or bigger and have more features" Morris told Australian Business Traveller. ""We did a 16 inch thin and light in the Latitude Z series so we've had a lot of experience in this space."
What's your take on this: would you buy a 15 or even 16 inch Ultrabook, or does the sweet spot end at 13-14 inches?
About David Flynn
David Flynn is the editor of Australian Business Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
1 on 17/1/12 by sagidec